10-year prison sentence in Houston antifreeze poisoning case

Published 3:48 pm, Monday, September 29, 2014

Friends and family of Dr. Ana Maria Gonzalez-
Angulo react in the courtroom to her sentencing.

Friends and family of Dr. Ana Maria Gonzalez-
Angulo react in the courtroom to her sentencing.

Photo: James Nielsen / Associated Press

10-year prison sentence in Houston antifreeze poisoning case

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HOUSTON — A jury on Monday sentenced a Texas cancer researcher to 10 years in prison after she was convicted of poisoning her colleague, who was also her lover, by lacing his coffee with a sweet-tasting chemical found in antifreeze.

Prosecutors said the affair turned into a “fatal attraction” and she poisoned him with ethylene glycol after Blumenschein spurned her in favor of Evette Toney, his longtime live-in girlfriend with whom he was trying to start a family. Blumenschein survived the 2013 poisoning.

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A jury on Friday convicted Gonzalez-Angulo, who is originally from Colombia, of aggravated assault.

While prosecutors had asked jurors to sentence her to at least 30 years in prison, they said they were pleased with the jury’s decision. Defense attorneys had asked for probation.

Prosecutor Justin Keiter said the prison sentence sent a message that whether you are a doctor or anybody else, you will not be treated any differently if convicted of a crime. “It doesn’t matter who you are. It matters what you do,” he said.

Defense attorney Derek Hollingsworth said he was disappointed with the sentence. Gonzalez-Angulo did not have any visible reaction after the sentence was announced. Hollingsworth said she was “incredibly upset” and emotional when he spoke with her after she had been taken into custody.

Hollingsworth said he anticipates that as a result of her conviction, Gonzalez-Angulo will lose her medical license. “The medical world has lost a shining star today,” he said.

Defense attorneys had hoped that Gonzalez-Angulo’s work would have swayed jurors to keep her out of prison.

“She saved my life and the lives of so many other people,” Silvia Pubchara, one of Gonzalez-Angulo’s former patients, said after the sentence was announced. “It was heartbreaking for me to see her placed in custody and taken to jail. She doesn’t deserve it.”

Gonzalez-Angulo will have to serve at least five years before being eligible for parole.